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Plotto pamphlet chapter 2
SECOND LESSON Plotto Purposes and Obstacles from PLOTTO A New Method of Plot Suggestion for Writers of Creative Fiction. By WILLIAM WALLACE COOK Purpose Rooted in Desire Desire, in some one of its many forms, is responsible for the awakening of Purpose. A friend of yours has a new automobile. You note how much better his car is than your own. You feel that you would like to have a car of the same make. This feeling grows until you propose to yourself that you will have a car like this new one of your friend 's. Here we have a commonplace case of desire begetting Purpose. Purpose Confronts an Obstacle Let us further suppose, however, that you have no ready money with which to buy your new car. You are in debt, let us say, and have so many pressing obligations that you feel it is going to be very difficult to finance the purchase of the new car. You could " turn in" the old car and go into debt for the balance of the purchase money needed for the new car. But you are averse to piling up any more debts. Very likely in your financial condition you should not buy the new car at all ; nevertheless, desire is so strong that it will not allow you to give over your Purpose. A situation develops in which Purpose is confronted by an Obstacle. The Purpose is to buy a new car, and the Obstacle is lack of ready funds. You cast about for some way in which you can overcome the Obstacle. Obstacle Apparently Overcome It happens, we will imagine, that you have owned a lot in a city suburb for a long time. The suburb, for one reason or another, is not growing, lot values are stationary and sales of property hard to encompass. Suddenly, as you are wondering how you are to finance the deal for the new car, you have an offer for your suburban lot. On the strength of this offer, you turn in your old car and sign a contract for the new one to be delivered a short time later. So far, the situation has not developed anything dramatic. You overcome your Obstacle through the chance offer for your lot. Obstacle Becomes Formidable Suppose now your new car is to be delivered on a certain day ; and on that day you are to pay in cash the difference in value between your old car and the new one. Let us imagine that the prospective purchaser of your lot dies suddenly, or experiences a pecuniary loss which makes it impossible for him to buy your lot. You are at your wits' end to know what to do, and the situation becomes dramatic because your Obstacle, which you supposed had been overcome, has not been overcome. You are so hard-pressed for funds that you cannot even purchase the new car on comparatively small monthly payments— and you have already contracted with the dealer to take over the new car and pay cash for it on delivery. Your situation becomes desperate. Your Obstacle, so far from having been overcome, is now more formidable than it was at first. What are you going to do? Overcome the Obstacle, or let it overcome you? The Conflict that Makes a Story This, as an illustration of Purpose and Obstacle in Conflict, is of the common or garden variety; nevertheless, it emphasizes the fact that there would have been no dramatic situation if your Purpose had not encountered an Obstacle that has become most formidable. A little reflection will convince you that there can be no dramatic story situation unless Purpose encounters Obstacles. The resulting Conflict makes the story. Drama From the hour of our birth on this planet our Purpose is TO LIVE. The Obstacle every life encounters is DEATH. As Schopenhauer puts it, "The Will is a will to live; and its eternal enemy is death. " Some of our Purposes during life may be to achieve wealth, or fame, or marriage with the woman of our choice. Obstacles that might defeat these Purposes or might be forced to yield to them, are infinite .in number. Whether we win or lose, or whether the result is a "draw," the Conflict gives us our situations. And the Conflict gives us DRAMA if the situations are tense enough. Suspense Suspense hangs upon the breathless Conflict between Purpose and Obstacle. Is the protagonist to conquer, or be conquered? We mark his efforts at every stage of the fight ; as the Purpose grows in intensity, winning here, losing there, and everything is growing doubt, the suspense becomes acute. Then we have the climax, or crisis, in which the question is to be decided finally one way or the other. The victory is with, or against, the protagonist. The battle ends, and suspense ends with it. Happiness the Supreme Purpose The Supreme Purpose of life in "this best of all possible worlds" is to ACHIEVE Happiness. Happiness, for the late James G. Blaine, the eminent statesman, lay in accomplishing his desire to become President of the United States. Almost overnight an Obstacle developed and shattered his hopes. Happiness for the late Woodrow Wilson lay in winning our country to the League of Nations. The Obstacle that shattered that dream was an Obstacle that could not be overcome. A prospect of happiness breeds desire, and desire is the father of Purpose. But happiness has not the same meaning for all of us. A certain protagonist of Guy de Maupessant' s saw happiness in winning the Cross of the Legion of Honor. There is a doubtful happiness in successful crime, a doubtful happiness in revenge, a noble happiness in self-sacrifice, a worthy happiness in being honest in the face of great temptation to be dishonest. The character of the protagonist indicates for him the meaning of the word " happiness. " Subordinate Purposes Subordinate Purposes group themselves about the pursuit of happiness. With the Supreme Obstacle of Death threatening us all, we wage our mimic wars of conquest and of gain, The happiness of wealth, of fame, of success in love, of writing a great story, of winning the Distinguished Service Medal, is a happiness subordinate to the main Purpose, TO LIVE; and all life is under threat of life ' s Supreme Obstacle. And so we strive in The Great Shadow, eagerly competing with each other in the pursuit of happiness. Plotto's Axiom Plotto lays down few rules. Plotto merely suggests, does away with rules and asks you to follow the bent of your own individual imagination, rightly controlled. But if Plotto might enunciate an axiom, it would be this: PURPOSE, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, OPPOSING OBSTACLE, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, YIELDS CONFLICT. Conflict is the source of suspense, and suspense is the magnet of our interest in all Conflicts. When Robinson Crusoe finds tracks in the sand, Conflict is dimly foreshadowed and suspense begins. When the mortgage is almost due to the Old Homestead, and the only hope is the success of the horse "Cold Molasses " in the race, we have suspense. When the hero of "Blue Jeans" is roped to the log in the sawmill and the log started toward the roaring buzzsaw, the suspense becomes agonizing. When the Prodigal Son leaves the husks and the swine to return to his father, we have suspense. While the Conflict grows, suspense grows; when the suspense is over, the story is done. Purposes and Obstacles are rift in the B Clauses of the Masterplot ; and the B Clauses are illustrated with Conflict suggestions for exemplifying them. Plan of the Plotto Lessons There are many angles to Plotto which will be discussed and explained in these lessons. The Plotto book, as you have it, is the result of years of study and research on the part of its author. An endeavor is being made in the lessons to approach the Plotto Method of Plot suggestion systematically, and in a way that will facilitate your use of the book. The lessons have been planned with the idea of taking the various steps toward a complete understanding of Plotto in an orderly manner. Plotto "Suggests" You would be surprised to learn how some very knowing people have misunderstood Plotto. On glancing at it, some of the intelligentsia have jumped at the false conclusion that Plotto is a dictionary of situations, a mechanism that yields a cut-and-dried plot by the mere use of a thumb index. Plotto, to the contrary, merely suggests the situations for the plot, explains what is to be done through Purpose and Obstacle, and even offers further suggestions as to the way in which it should be done. The Conflicts are suggestions, in the form of Purpose and Obstacle, for exemplifying the action suggested by the Masterplot. If you will turn to Conflict 6a, you will find the following: Conflict 6a A, traveling the highroad, drops a purse of money unnoticed *B, who has long desired to know A, picks up the purse he has dropped and returns it. A and B fall in love** If we have A for our protagonist, his Purpose will be to find the purse he has lost. His Obstacle will be the long stretch of road he has covered before discovering his loss, and the chance that some one else has found and kept the purse. With B as the protagonist, her Purpose will be to make the acquaintance of A. The Obstacle is the fact that they are strangers to each other, and that they have no mutual friend who can bring them together. The Obstacle is overcome when B finds and returns the purse. As a result of their later association, A and B fall in love. A, on his part, knows that he will be happier if he can find his purse ; and B, on her part, feels that she will be happier if she can make the acquaintance of A. For A, as it is for B, happiness will be won if their romance ends in marriage. A' s Purpose is now to win B in marriage. Obstacle? What is the Let us for illustration, turn to another Conflict. Conflict 54a A is in love with B. One evening, as usual, he calls to see B; but, where her beautiul home had stood, no later than the evening before, there is now only an ancient, timestained tomb—the tomb of B, who had died a hundred years before A was born. Here we are plunged into the occult and the supernatural. A's Purpose to marry B has met an Obstacle of a mysterious nature which it is impossible for him to overcome. C Clause (13) of the Masterplot would apply here: "Comes finally to the blank wall of enigma." The resulting story, based on such a plot, would go Rider Haggard's "She" one better. Let us still, for purposes of illustration, look at another Conflict. Conflict 153 A, in love with B, has a valuable gift sent to B by a eweler* Through error, or by evil intent, packages are transposed;.and the gift received by B, as from A, very nearly proves disastrous to A's love affair** A's Purpose, naturally, is to please B and so forward his love affair. The Obstacle the Purpose encounters is the transposition of packages. Conflict 432a A married to B, seeks by secret enterprise to effect a change in unpleasant matrimonial conditions. What is the Purpose here? It is plainly expressed. What is the Obstacle? It is implied, and it is indefinite. It will be expressed plainly enough when the abstract suggestion, "unpleasant matrimonial conditions, " is resolved into something concrete. Interpreting Purpose and Obstacle It is not the purpose in this lesson to intrude upon the interpretation of Conflict suggestion, for that is a comprehensive matter to be considered in later lessons. We wish now merely to make it possible for each student to understand how to arrive at a determination of the Purpose and Obstacle in each Conflict. Conflict 754 A gambles with money he is holding in trust. This is a short Conflict. The Purpose is implied and also the Obstacle. A seeks gain by gambling. He has no money of his own, and that is his Obstacle. An acute need for money leads to the desire that inspires his Pur- pose. He overcomes his Obstacle by committing an error, perhaps a crime ; that is, he gambles with money he is holding in trust. additIito nis very important that this lesson be thoroughly mastered ; and that in to answering the questions of the Work Sheet, the student take time to dip into the Plotto Conflicts at random and exercise the imagination by resolving the Conflicts into their Purposes and Obstacles. Second Lesson. Plotto Purposes and Obstacles WORK SHEET The Plotto Method 1. Note the latter half of Conflict 10a ; " B, a criminal arrested by A, a detective, brings her charms to bear upon A in the hope of affecting her escape. " What is B' s Purpose? What is A's Purpose? What is B' s Obstacle? How would you interpret A's implied Obstacle? 2. Note Conflict 561: "A, husband of B, receives anonymous communications regarding B and A-3." Interpret A's Implied Purpose Interpret A' s Implied Obstacle 3. Consider the second half of Conflict 681b: "A recovers from a critical illness but loses all remembrance of his personal identity. " Interpret an implied Purpose for A. Interpret the Obstacle 4. Conflict 834: "A, becoming secretly aware of the plans for a holdup, endeavors to prevent it." A' s Purpose Interpret A' s Implied Obstacle . 5. Conflict 1403: "A secures knowledge of an important secret, and his curiosity involves him in a queer enterprise." What is A ' s Implied Purpose? Interpret an Implied Obstacle 6. You were asked, in the First Lesson Work Sheet, to select from the Masterplots of the Masterplot Chart, a Masterplot that carried a particular appeal to you. You are now requested to select a Conflict exemplifying the B Clause of your Masterplot, a Conflict that appeals to you. You will do this by turning to Page 16 in Plotto, finding there the number of B Clause of your Masterplot, and then turning to the sub-group of Conflicts that suggest a situation. Or, if you desire, you may run through all the Plotto Conflicts and select one which, you think, will exemplify the particular B Clause. Write out that Conflict in its entirety below, being sure to prefix its number